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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Interview with conservationist Elissa Sursara

Elissa on one of her conservation missions. Image supplied.

Wildlife advocacy and conservation must be tough. Just as a small advance is made (opening of a sanctuary, changes in legislation to protect wildlife), another species becomes extinct or added to the critically endangered list. But conservationists don't give up easily.

Elissa Sursara is a wildlife
advocate and conservationist working on behalf of endangered animals and
threatened habitats. She is an environmental and science writer, formerly of
National Geographic’s now defunct News Watch and has appeared on television and
radio as an advocate for the environment. She is the ambassador to Earth Hour,
Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo and Patagonia brand’s 1% for the Planet. Elissa
served on two Antarctic campaigns with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to
prevent whaling in the Southern Ocean and is a supporter of plant-based eating
and sustainability. She was happy to talk to SAT about her career.

What’s your day job?

After a few years on hiatus to pursue passion projects and volunteer work with
different organisations, I’ve returned to study to attain higher credit in the
biology and research field. Previously, my day job consisted of heavy travel,
dense research and lots of sacrifice as a full-time and often embedded
volunteer (like a 2012 to 2014 stint on a ship in Antarctica!) whilst now, it’s
a lot or study and research. I spend a lot of my day emailing with my lecturers
and supervisors and mapping out a finite academic plan for an eventual PhD –
possibly in morphology or animal communication. I’m really interested in what
makes wildlife tick.

We all love animals, but not everyone will want to be a conservationist. For a really
long time I drew those parallels, believing that my professional
conservationism was a natural progression from being an animal lover. And I
used to feel confused and frustrated when my peers lacked my same resolve to
actively address environmental issues. The truth is that my interest in
conservation was only a result of experience: I experienced melting ice and
illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean, I’ve picked up koalas on the roadsides
and I worked on call to untangle baby whales from shark nets along the
Queensland coast. I felt the impact of our poor choices on the environment when
not everyone has. My interest in conservation is a direct response to seeing
suffering in the environment.

Elissa meets some incredible creatures during her work. Image: supplied.

You’re an advocate for a range of wildlife species. Why do these species need
advocates?

Many, if not all of our most iconic species are in trouble. Tigers are
dwindling in numbers in isolated pockets and elephants and rhinos are
disappearing from their historic range. Where there were once hundreds of
thousands, there are now no more than 3000 wild pandas in the world. UNESCO
reacted by declaring their natural habitat in south China a World Heritage
Site. When you’re hit with information like that, information so symptomatic of
wildlife protection gone wrong, it’s hard not to feel compelled to advocate on
their behalf. Our relationship with animals is very subtly anthropomorphic
(that is, one that humanises our pets and other TV animals with names and
clothes and behaviours, like begging, that we’ve come to see as human like) and
somewhere along the way, we’ve forgotten that wild animals can’t beg or plead
or ask for help. Polar bears clutching softened pack ice can’t ask us to turn
off our lights at night. We’ve got to ask each other to do better. That’s advocacy.

"We;ve got to ask each other to do better" - Elissa Sursara. Image: supplied.

One of the things you promote is positive wildlife interaction. Why is that not
all wildlife interactions are positive, and how can the rest of us ensure we
are interacting with wildlife in a positive way?

A lot of recreational activities with animals locally and abroad, like monkey
parks, pictures with tigers, elephant rides and swim with dolphin programs are
deeply exploitative of wildlife. Often the animals are trapped from the wild
and forced to live in built up environments away from their families and
without their natural enrichment.

Captive dolphins, for example, are generally
sold from fishermen, like in the infamous cove of Taiji, Japan, who have caught
the animals for market. This differs from respectable zoos and parks, like
Australia Zoo, where animals are often born in captivity and receive impeccable
care; in stark contrast, global animal tourism, particularly in developing
countries, is cheaply run and many of the animal’s basic veterinary needs are
neglected. Protecting animals while on holidays is paramount, and something we
can all do is our homework.

World Animal Protection have launched a great
campaign to help guide our holiday-maker choices when it comes to seeing
animals in the wild. Look for the signs: are there cement floored cages and
collars? Does the animal have space to move? Are they shackled or chained? Is
the animal performing? Animal attractions are a hot-bed for cruelty. And if you
see something unsettling, report it to local police, the embassy, tourist
officers, animal welfare organisations and your tour operator.

What’s the most important
thing you’ve learned about interacting with wildlife species?

The most important thing I’ve learned in interacting with wildlife is to always
respect the animal, especially in its natural habitat. It’s important to
respect the natural environment as a self-regulating, independent structure.
Too often we push the boundary. And it’s when we test those waters that we
disrupt the balance – like fracking, mining and drilling, and fragmenting
important habitats for development and farming.

Caring for wildlife also means caring for the environment. Image: supplied.

You’ve travelled all over
the world and worked on numerous conservation projects. Can you share with us a
few practical steps we can take to make the world better for non-human animals?

I’m a big believer that small change creates a big impact! Its important to me
as an advocate to ensure that mums and dads, doctors, painters, fashion
designers, office workers and students don’t feel like they need to quit their
jobs and relocate to the Amazon just to be wildlife warriors.

The planet’s
struggles can be simplified to a few simple things: climate change,
overfishing, deforestation and wildlife exploitation.

It’s surprisingly easy to
reduce our impact when it comes to these issues. Switching off our lights and
unplugging unused appliances is a great way or reducing energy and the affects
of global warming. Eating less fish and switching up our dietary routines to
include more vegetables and less meat is a fool-proof way of helping our empty
oceans recover, and its particularly helpful in reducing greenhouse gas
emissions. Checking labels to avoid nasty additives like palm oil and palm
sugar are highly effective for those interested in conserving tiger, elephant
and orang-utan populations that are declining through the rise of palm oil
production. And finally, the best thing someone can do to make the world better
is to simply ask two questions: how will this affect me, and how will this
affect the environment?

Elissa Sursara. Image: supplied.

What’s your next project?

Returning to university in the Science and Engineering department after several
years of study has so far been extremely rewarding. It’s given me the
flexibility to specialize in biology and continue shaping my career as a
conservationist and scientist. A doctorate is my academic goal and I’m feeling
motivated to accomplish that. Across the next year or so, I’ll be working on
some great projects with some incredibly impressive people.

Most recently I
filmed an episode with Totally Wild, an Australian children’s show as part of
my role as the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour ambassador. I was invited as an
ambassador to Australia Zoo to hear primatologist Jane Goodall speak on the
grounds with the Irwin family and to meet her afterward. She gave me the single
greatest piece of advice: be a rebel. With that guidance, I’ve leapt on board
for several projects, including raising awareness for Josh Zeman and Adrian
Grenier’s documentary, Lonely Whale. Later in the year, as part of an upcoming
creative conservation project, I’ll visit Philip Island Nature Parks to work
with penguin researchers and visit an important seal colony. And finally, after
months of preparation, I’m launching two projects: a sustainability blog and an
environmental awareness project. It’s been an exciting year so far and I’m
looking forward to what’s coming up.

Thanks
Elissa for sharing your time and your tips. You can find out more about what
Elissa is up to via her social media channels:

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